Methodology

How every rating is calculated

Five ratings, five inputs, one printed formula. Every input is a specification the manufacturer published, and every racket page links each one to its source. You can recompute any number on this site by hand.

The five inputs

The five ratings

Power

How far the build leans toward power on a full swing: a head-heavy shape, a high balance and more mass behind the ball.

Control

How far the build leans toward placement: a rounder shape and a lower balance.

Handling

How easy the racket is to move quickly. Lower balance and lower weight both reduce swing inertia, which is the best measured relationship in padel racket research.

Forgiveness

How much the build helps on a slow swing or an off-centre hit: a rounder shape, a softer feel and a more flexible face.

Comfort

How gentle the build feels on the arm: a softer feel, a more flexible face, a lower balance and less weight. This describes feel and physical demand. It is not a claim about injury.

From points to a rating

Each rating starts as a sum of points out of 100. That sum is placed on a 10 to 90 scale: rating = 10 + points x 0.8. No racket has none of a quality or all of it, and a spec sheet cannot justify the extremes.

Value

The mean of a racket's two highest ratings, divided by its price in euros, then scaled so the best value in the index is 100. It is recalculated on every build because prices move. It is only calculated for prices published in euros.

When the firmness is in the maker's guide and not on the product page

adidas names the foam on each product page and ranks its three foams in its own buying guide. The index uses that ranking, records the softest as soft, the middle as medium and the firmest as hard, and says so on each racket page with a link to the guide.

When a manufacturer does not publish a spec

The missing input counts as the neutral midpoint, 0.5, and the racket page says so in plain words. A racket needs at least 3 of the 5 inputs published to be rated at all. Nothing is filled in from memory, from a similar model, or from a guess.

The evidence behind each direction

The directions in the tables above are not ours. Each one is a claim that manufacturers, a governing body or published research make, and that no measurement we found contradicts.

Shape

Manufacturers and the British governing body agree on the orientation: round leans to control and forgiveness, diamond to power, teardrop sits between. Hybrid shapes are placed by the manufacturer's own description.

• Increases control and consistency. Most suited to players who like to play longer rallies and have a defensive game. LTA Padel equipment guide
• Round rackets have a larger sweet spot, making ball control and handling easier. adidas padel, How to choose a racket
• The diamond padel racquet has less control and precision than the other two Babolat ranges, which is a limiting factor for padel beginners. Babolat, diamond racquets
• The moderate sweet spot and medium balance point of the teardrop are the perfect balance for a versatile game. Wilson, How to Choose a Padel Racket

Balance

The best evidenced input. In a study that measured 137 rackets, a balance point further from the handle went with higher swing inertia, which means a racket that is harder to move. Manufacturers add that a higher balance favours power.

• the further the balance point is located from the handle end, the higher the inertia in both directions Blanes et al., Sensors 2022, 137 rackets measured
• The higher the MOI, the lower the maneuverability because the user will have to generate higher torques to produce the same acceleration. Blanes et al., Sensors 2022
• A low or medium balance favors control and ease of movement adidas padel, How to choose a racket

Weight

More mass gives more power potential and more stability at impact. Less mass makes a racket easier to move. Weight is scored from the midpoint of the published range.

• The weight of the padel racket is the first parameter with more influence on maneuverability. A heavy padel racket is harder to move. Blanes et al., Sensors 2022, stated as the premise of the study
• More mass gives more inherent racket power but may result in lower shot speed if the player loses too much swing speed. Tennis Warehouse University, The Physics of Padel Racket Power
• If you suffer from any form of arm pain, a lighter, softer racket could be more suitable for you to reduce the impact of shot. LTA Padel equipment guide

Firmness

A softer racket feels more comfortable and gives more ball output on a slow swing. A firmer one rewards a fast swing and is less forgiving. Because soft and firm each help a different kind of swing, firmness feeds forgiveness and comfort here and is kept out of the power and control ratings. Makers state firmness for the racket as a whole, and the foam is the main thing that sets it.

• Soft Performance EVA foam is ideal for beginners because it's soft, provides good ball output with minimal effort, and reduces arm impact. adidas padel, How to choose a racket
• Rackets using this type of foam are the most challenging to play with because they are not forgiving on off-center hits. Wilson, How to Choose a Padel Racket
• Remember that the more rigid a rubber is, the more powerful it is. The more flexible it is, the better the ball output. adidas padel, guide to choosing a racket

Face material

Fibreglass is more flexible, softer and more forgiving than carbon. Only the material family is scored: fibreglass, a carbon and glass mix, or carbon.

• Fiberglass is more flexible than carbon, resulting in a softer and more forgiving hit. adidas padel, How to choose a racket
• flexible and easier to control, offering a softer touch LTA Padel equipment guide
• Fiberglass materials = soft, comfortable feel Wilson, How to Choose a Padel Racket

What is deliberately not scored

• Carbon weave count, such as 3K, 12K, 18K or 24K. K is the number of filaments in a carbon bundle, in thousands. Most makers say a higher count is stiffer, a large retailer describes one brand's range the other way round, and the one engineering source found says it has little direct effect on performance. It is shown on every racket page and scored nowhere. Tennis Warehouse University, Padel Carbon Fiber Racket Layup
• Textured or rough faces. Manufacturers say a rough face adds spin. The only laboratory measurement found concluded that for almost all padel impacts every racket produces about the same spin, and that the difference is not because of surface roughness. Tennis Warehouse University, The Physics of Padel Spin Production
• Where the sweet spot sits. Manufacturers say a diamond shape puts the sweet spot higher on the face. A robot test of 225 rackets, 93 of them compared by shape, found no significant correlation between racket shape and sweet spot position. Shape is scored for orientation and forgiveness, which sources agree on, and no claim is made about sweet spot position. Blanes et al., Sensors 2023
• Thickness. 38 mm is the maximum the rules allow and nearly every adult racket is built to it, so it tells two rackets apart very rarely. International Padel Federation, Rules of Padel
• Core firmness as power or as control. Sources contradict each other because they describe different swings. A soft core helps a slow swing and a firm core rewards a fast one. A single power or control number from core firmness would be wrong for half of all players.
• Balance published only as a number. A balance figure depends on what is fitted to the racket when it is measured. The study of 137 rackets notes that extra grips and protectors change the weight and the balance point. Manufacturers do not say how their figure was taken, so a bare figure from one brand cannot be set against a figure from another. The figure is shown and the rating uses the neutral midpoint. Blanes et al., Sensors 2022
• Injury risk. The one padel study that tested racket specifications against injury was a questionnaire. It found a weak association for weight and none for core, shape or face material. The comfort rating describes feel and physical demand. It makes no claim about preventing or causing injury. Muñoz et al., Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022

Limits of this model

• Measured differences between rackets are small. Tennis Warehouse University found that most rackets fall within about a 5 to 7 percent range of power potential. A rating of 80 against 40 does not mean twice the ball speed. It means the build leans further in that direction.
• Firmness words are not standardised. One brand's medium is not guaranteed to match another's. The index records the word the manufacturer used and links to it.
• A published weight is a range and individual rackets vary inside it. The rating uses the midpoint.
• Power and control are built from the same two or three inputs, so they move against each other. That reflects what manufacturers publish, which describes one main axis.
• The weights in the formula are an editorial judgement about how much each input matters. The directions are sourced. The magnitudes are ours, they are printed, and they can be contested.

Rackets held back

A racket is left out when its numbers cannot be traced to a page. 7 are held back right now:

Contest a figure

If a spec here is wrong or out of date, send the page that shows the right one and it will be corrected. If you think a weight in the formula is wrong, say which and why. Model changes are versioned, and this is version 1.0.